The Healthy People/Healthy Economy Coalition addresses one of the most urgent issues facing the Commonwealth and its people today: rising rates of preventable chronic disease despite relentless increases in health care spending. Even in Massachusetts, one of the wealthiest and best educated states in the country, health disparities continue to widen, creating almost insurmountable hurdles for many people who are trying to meet their full potential to thrive and succeed in an increasingly complex and competitive economy. The Commonwealth's high and rising health care costs are crowding out the ability of government and many households and businesses to invest in the actual determinants of health: education, public safety, public health, the environment and recreation. Moreover, investments in health care are coming at the expense of investments in healthy lifestyles for those least able to substitute private for public resources.